6 Tips On How To Create An Effective Online Course

With the growing popularity of online learning, one can easily do a search for the course of their choice and there would be so many options available for them. But skimming through these options, you’ll find that only a few of these are actually worth signing up for.

Assuming that all online courses have the same accreditations and quality information, there are a few things that would set some apart from the others – factors that make them more effective than the rest of the courses being offered online. If you are an educator or an expert who is planning to create an online course, here are some basic tips on how to make your service effective and engaging to your learners:

Set Clear Goals

One of the most crucial things to do in order to ensure that your online course is effective is to set clear goals to your students. Clearly communicate the objectives of the course and how to achieve them, including when these should be met and what is needed for a successful completion of each goal.

Make Course Documents Available to Enrolled Students

Ensure that all of your students are well guided throughout the course by making available all important course documents such as the syllabus to them from the start of the term. Having these documents handy will guide the students as to which lessons will be covered within the course, and at the same time serve as a road map to the educators.

Offer High Quality Content

Make sure that what you teach in your online course is well-researched. You want to offer high quality content that thoroughly discusses the subject matter. Even if you are merely sharing your expertise, invest time in researching the material before you make it available to your students. It is best to provide an in-depth explanation of the topics with the use of examples and proofs.

Consider All Learning Styles

When designing an online course, every learning style should be taken into consideration. Your course should appeal to all learning styles, so all students can benefit from and appreciate the course. There will be students who would benefit from visual stimulation, while others may prefer text.

Facilitate Coordination

Encourage open line of communication among students and with their educators through discussion forums, chat, email, video conferencing, VoIP, and social media. Provide your learners with means of communication that will allow them to ask questions or clarifications whenever necessary, as well as seek help or support IT support staff for any technical issues they may experience.

Make Navigation Simple and Easy

Make ease of navigation and functionality your top priority during the designing stage of your online course. Having a well organized learning platform that allows your students to go from one page to another easily will enable them to focus more on the course instead of trying to figure out where to get which.

While all online courses are products of educators who are driven to share their knowledge and provide quality education to their students, not all online courses are created equal. By applying these basic tips to your online course, you can ensure your students that they have signed up for a course that will give them an interesting and fulfilling educational journey.

Michelle Rubio is an experienced SEO copywriter and blogger since 2010. She has been working with various businesses, big and small, in the United States, UK, Canada, and Australia. You can see more of her works and experiences in her LinkedIn profile.